The Group Topology of Pakistani Taliban - Research Paper Example

 Pakistani Taliban Introduction In the recent years, the existence of certain numbers of militant groups can be observed in the central East Asia among which few of the groups reconstituted among themselves and as a result a new crop of militants are found to be increasingly appearing. The attacks on Afghanistan by the United States in the year 2001 can be identified to be the reason which led to the genesis of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or Pakistani Taliban. The Pakistani Taliban is known to entail forty such militant groups engaging around 35,000 aggressive people. The group is learnt to be a dispersed and ruptured force. Factors such as disagreement, infighting and indiscipline are supposed to be common within the groups of the militants (Qazi, 2011). The study will briefly discuss the group topology of Pakistani Taliban and the major motivational factors that influences them to indulge in terrorism and such related activities. The justification and identification of the beliefs and causes for taking on anti-social policies and activities have also been highlighted throughout the discussion. Moreover, the study will also focus on ascertaining the degree of legitimacy of the complaints or demands of the Pakistani Taliban along with evaluating the practicability of this group as an individual organization and the threats posed by it towards the security of the US and its partners. Type of Group In the context of Pakistani Taliban, it can be observed that the militant group is categorized into two different ideological encampments with regard to their terrorism activities. These two groups are considered to differ from each other in terms of their operations and leaderships. Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-ur-Rahman are recognized to be the major leaders of a particular group which chiefly engages the TTP. This group is known to share a supporting relationship with Al-Qaeda and aims at fighting against the Pakistani state as well as and considers their participation in the Afghanistan war to be the other major aim. The group is also involved with offering training facilities to the terrorists hired by the Al-Qaeda group for the purpose of conducting various violent activities and suicide attacks. Conversely, the other group or category of Pakistani Taliban strongly believes in the rules and regulations pursued by the Afghan Taliban. This definite group aims at creating violence and hostility against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the American forces situated within Afghanistan. These two groups are not known to be colossal in them and are found to indulge in various infighting activities amid each other. Furthermore, the Pakistani Taliban entails three significant characteristics which can be considered to be fundamental in identifying and comprehending the growing degree of terrorism and other forms of insurgencies occurring in various countries (Qazi, 2011). With regard to the involvement in terrorism activities, it can be acknowledged that certain reasons are believed to prompt the young generation to participate in the rebellious movements. The recruitment techniques involve several practices related to injustices that are believed to be carried out within the nations along with influencing various communities regarding economic endowment and other political and judicial services are believed to drive the youth towards getting engaged in movements related to terrorism. Moreover, the strict beliefs, religious norms along with the manipulation of the neighboring regions are also learnt to trigger the young generation to take active participation in the insurgent movements (Rashid, 2002). The Pakistani Taliban employs the youth by influencing them to acquire wealth, respect and power in order to survive and fight against the injustices and unsatisfactory code of conducts prepared by the government. The militants exploit this generation and encourage them to get engaged in unofficial conversations along with social interactions through offering support and assistance for their wellbeing within the society. Moreover, the Pakistan Taliban seeks psychological manipulation during the course of informal conversations and influences the youth to act as a volunteer. More significantly, the TTP recruits several suicide bombers who are uneducated or belong to a poor economic background. It can also be observed that lack of economic and infrastructural development, increasing poverty rate, government’s inability to provide education and medical facilities, ongoing conflicts and other judicial commandments can also be considered to be the major factors for indulging in terrorism and insurgent activities (Rashid, 2002). With regard to the legitimacy of the complaints or demands of the groups of the Pakistani Taliban, it has been observed that the terrorist groups possess certain demands and complaints regarding the democratic system of the government. The organizations are found to frequently demand the release of their members and request the enforcement of the legislation of the Shariah Law in Pakistan. Moreover, the demand of participation of the Taliban in the political process of Pakistan and banning the cooperation of Pakistani government with the US are few of the major demands of Pakistani Taliban. It can be well inferred from the above stated demands as well as complaints that these could not be considered as legitimate. It is owing to the actuality that the demands are observed to cause a hindrance or intervene in the functioning process of the government and therefore, cannot be regarded as being appropriate or legitimate (Cordesman, Burke & Vira, 2011). According to the present strategy of the US regarding war against Afghan Taliban is supposed to be significantly creating a great pressure on Pakistan. In keeping with the increasing pace to destroy terrorism, the US has been considering several steps to gain control over the TTP movement of insurgent activities. From the perspective of Qari Mehsud, who is known to be amongst the top lieutenants of TTP, it has been indicated that the US is regarded as the major target region in response to the series of attacks conducted by the US on the TTP leaders. Therefore, the TTP declared the responsibility of the suicide intimidations on the CIA facilities and Time Square in Afghanistan. With this concern, the TTP has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and few of its leaders were identified as global terrorists by the US. Moreover, the TTP has also included in the list of Banned Terrorist Organization under various governmental acts as well as laws (Siddique, 2010). Conclusion The insurgent movements of the Pakistani Taliban are not only an ancestral or Islamist insurgencies but the members of these groups have also displayed sectarian along with tribal and Islamism concerns. In the context of local political phenomenon, Pakistani Taliban terrorists have also been engaged with the aspect of transnational terrorism with the effective support of the major militant organizations of the world. The Pakistani Taliban have gained support through offering fleet and free justice along with commandments and instructions by the use of its dispute-resolution centers (Rashid, 2012). It can be further mentioned that aspects such as poverty and increasing unemployment in the tribal regions, hugely influences the militants to take the benefits of the internal dislocations caused by the military operations. It has also been observed that majority of the members within the Pakistani Taliban have joined due to the disappointment and frustration regarding the inabilities and failure of the government to provide fundamental human provisions along with the influence of other insurgent groups which plays a malicious role with regard to the insurgency activities. References Cordesman, A. H., Burke, A. A., & Vira, V. (2011). Pakistan: Violence vs stability. Center for strategic & international studies, pp. 1-192. Rashid, A. (2012). Pakistan on the brink: The future of America, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. United States: Penguin Group US. Qazi, S. H. (2011). An extended profile of the Pakistani Taliban. Retrieved from http://www.ispu.org/pdfs/ISPU%20Policy%20Brief%20Extended%20Profile%20of%20Pakistani%20Taliban.pdf Rashid, A. (2002). Taliban: Islam, oil and the new great game in Central Asia. United Kingdom: I.B.Tauris. Siddique, Q. (2010). Tehrik-E-Taliban Pakistan an attempt to deconstruct the umbrella organization and the reasons for its growth in Pakistan’s North-West. Retrieved from http://www.diis.dk/graphics/Publications/Reports2010/RP2010-12-Tehrik-e-Taliban_web.pdf Read More